Administrative Review Tribunal Bill
2 February 2024
We welcome the opportunity to make this submission to the Inquiry into the Administrative Review Tribunal Bill (the Bill) and the Administrative Review Tribunal (Consequential and Transitional Provisions No.1) Bill.
People with Disability Australia is Australia’s peak cross-disability Disability Representative Organisation and is funded by the Australian Government to represent the 1 in 6 Australians with disability nationally. Our organisation is made up of, and led by, people with disability.
In preparing this submission, we consulted with our individual advocates, who regularly represent people with disability at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The submission also draws upon our knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as an NGO with Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
We welcome the Government’s efforts to establish a new administrative review tribunal that is fair, timely, informal, inexpensive and accessible.1 In particular, we commend clause 51 of the Bill, which places an obligation on the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) to conduct proceedings in an accessible manner.
This submission will make recommendations aimed at enhancing the Bill’s ability to achieve its objectives. While not within the scope of this Inquiry, we note that the Government must provide the ART with sufficient funding to achieve its objectives, particularly the objective of accessibility.